Job 10:15

10:15 If I am guilty, ¹  woe ²  to me,

and if I am innocent, I cannot lift my head; ³ 

I am full of shame, ⁴ 

and satiated with my affliction. ⁵ 

Job 13:16

13:16 Moreover, this will become my deliverance,

for no godless person would come before him. ⁶ 

Job 14:13

The Possibility of Another Life

14:13 “O that ⁷  you would hide me in Sheol, ⁸ 

and conceal me till your anger has passed! ⁹ 

O that you would set me a time ¹⁰ 

and then remember me! ¹¹ 

Job 16:9

16:9 His ¹²  anger has torn me ¹³  and persecuted ¹⁴  me;

he has gnashed at me with his teeth;

my adversary locks ¹⁵  his eyes on me.

Job 19:27

19:27 whom I will see for myself, ¹⁶ 

and whom my own eyes will behold,

and not another. ¹⁷ 

My heart ¹⁸  grows faint within me. ¹⁹ 

Job 27:5

27:5 I will never ²⁰  declare that you three ²¹  are in the right;

until I die, I will not set aside my integrity!

Job 33:9

33:9 ²² ‘I am pure, without transgression;

I am clean ²³  and have no iniquity.

Job 33:27

33:27 That person sings ²⁴  to others, ²⁵  saying:

‘I have sinned and falsified what is right,

but I was not punished according to what I deserved. ²⁶ 

Job 34:10

God is Not Unjust

34:10 “Therefore, listen to me, you men of understanding. ²⁷ 

Far be it from ²⁸  God to do wickedness,

from the Almighty to do evil.

Job 41:11

41:11 (Who has confronted ²⁹  me that I should repay? ³⁰ 

Everything under heaven belongs to me!) ³¹ 

[10:15]  ¹ sn The verbs “guilty” and “innocent” are actually the verbs “I am wicked,” and “I am righteous.”

[10:15]  ² tn The exclamation occurs only here and in Mic 7:1.

[10:15]  ³ sn The action of lifting up the head is a symbol of pride and honor and self-respect (Judg 8:28) – like “hold your head high.” In 11:15 the one who is at peace with God lifts his head (face).

[10:15]  ⁴ tn The expression שְׂבַע קָלוֹן (sÿva’ qalon) may be translated “full of shame.” The expression literally means “sated of ignominy” (or contempt [קַלַל, qalal]).

[10:15]  ⁵ tn The last clause is difficult to fit into the verse. It translates easily enough: “and see my affliction.” Many commentators follow the suggestion of Geiger to read רְוֶה (rÿveh, “watered with”) instead of רְאֵה (rÿ’eh, “see”). This could then be interpreted adjectivally and parallel to the preceding line: “steeped/saturated with affliction.” This would also delete the final yod as dittography (E. Dhorme, Job, 152). But D. J. A. Clines notes more recent interpretations that suggest the form in the text is an orthographic variant of raweh meaning “satiated.” This makes any emendation unnecessary (and in fact that idea of “steeped” was not helpful any way because it indicated imbibing rather than soaking). The NIV renders it “and drowned in my affliction” although footnoting the other possibility from the MT, “aware of my affliction” (assuming the form could be adjectival). The LXX omits the last line.

[13:16]  ⁶ sn The fact that Job will dare to come before God and make his case is evidence – to Job at least – that he is innocent.

[14:13]  ¹¹ tn The optative mood is introduced here again with מִי יִתֵּן (mi yitten), literally, “who will give?”

[14:13]  ¹² sn Sheol in the Bible refers to the place where the dead go. But it can have different categories of meaning: death in general, the grave, or the realm of the departed spirits [hell]. A. Heidel shows that in the Bible when hell is in view the righteous are not there – it is the realm of the departed spirits of the wicked. When the righteous go to Sheol, the meaning is usually the grave or death. See chapter 3 in A. Heidel, The Gilgamesh Epic and the Old Testament Parallels.

[14:13]  ¹³ tn The construction used here is the preposition followed by the infinitive construct followed by the subjective genitive, forming an adverbial clause of time.

[14:13]  ¹⁴ tn This is the same word used in v. 5 for “limit.”

[14:13]  ¹⁵ tn The verb זָכַר (zakhar) means more than simply “to remember.” In many cases, including this one, it means “to act on what is remembered,” i.e., deliver or rescue (see Gen 8:1, “and God remembered Noah”). In this sense, a prayer “remember me” is a prayer for God to act upon his covenant promises.

[16:9]  ¹⁶ tn The referent of these pronouns in v. 9 (“his anger…he has gnashed…his teeth…his eyes”) is best taken as God.

[16:9]  ¹⁷ sn The figure used now is that of a wild beast. God’s affliction of Job is compared to the attack of such an animal. Cf. Amos 1:11.

[16:9]  ¹⁸ tn The verb שָׂטַם (satam) is translated “hate” in the RSV, but this is not accepted by very many. Many emend it to שָׁמט (shamat), reading “and he dropped me” (from his mouth). But that suggests escape. D. J. A. Clines notes that usage shows it reflects ongoing hatred represented by an action such as persecution or attack (Job [WBC], 370).

[16:9]  ¹⁹ tn The verb is used of sharpening a sword in Ps 7:12; here it means “to look intently” as an animal looks for prey. The verse describes God’s relentless pursuit of Job.

[19:27]  ²¹ tn The emphasis is on “I” and “for myself.” No other will be seeing this vindication, but Job himself will see it. Of that he is confident. Some take לִי (li, “for myself”) to mean favorable to me, or on my side (see A. B. Davidson, Job, 143). But Job is expecting (not just wishing for) a face-to-face encounter in the vindication.

[19:27]  ²² tn Hitzig offered another interpretation that is somewhat forced. The “other” (זָר, zar) or “stranger” would refer to Job. He would see God, not as an enemy, but in peace.

[19:27]  ²³ tn Heb “kidneys,” a poetic expression for the seat of emotions.

[19:27]  ²⁴ tn Heb “fail/grow faint in my breast.” Job is saying that he has expended all his energy with his longing for vindication.

[27:5]  ²⁶ tn The text uses חָלִילָה לִּי (khalilah li) meaning “far be it from me,” or more strongly, something akin to “sacrilege.”

[27:5]  ²⁷ tn In the Hebrew text “you” is plural – a reference to Eliphaz, Zophar, and Bildad. To make this clear, “three” is supplied in the translation.

[33:9]  ³¹ sn See Job 9:21; 10:7; 23:7; 27:4; ch. 31.

[33:9]  ³² tn The word is a hapax legomenon; hap is from חָפַף (khafaf). It is used in New Hebrew in expressions like “to wash” the head. Cognates in Syriac and Akkadian support the meaning “to wash; to clean.”

[33:27]  ³⁶ tc The verb יָשֹׁר (yashor) is unusual. The typical view is to change it to יָשִׁיר (yashir, “he sings”), but that may seem out of harmony with a confession. Dhorme suggests a root שׁוּר (shur, “to repeat”), but this is a doubtful root. J. Reider reads it יָשֵׁיר (yasher) and links it to an Arabic word “confesses” (ZAW 24 [1953]: 275).

[33:27]  ³⁷ tn Heb “to men.”

[33:27]  ³⁸ tn The verb שָׁוָה (shavah) has the impersonal meaning here, “it has not been requited to me.” The meaning is that the sinner has not been treated in accordance with his deeds: “I was not punished according to what I deserved.”

[34:10]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “men of heart.” The “heart” is used for the capacity to understand and make the proper choice. It is often translated “mind.”

[34:10]  ⁴² tn For this construction, see Job 27:5.

[41:11]  ⁴⁶ tn The verb קָדַם (qadam) means “to come to meet; to come before; to confront” to the face.

[41:11]  ⁴⁷ sn The verse seems an intrusion (and so E. Dhorme, H. H. Rowley, and many others change the pronouns to make it refer to the animal). But what the text is saying is that it is more dangerous to confront God than to confront this animal.

[41:11]  ⁴⁸ tn This line also focuses on the sovereign God rather than Leviathan. H. H. Rowley, however, wants to change לִי־חוּא (li-hu’, “it [belongs] to me”) into לֹא הוּא (lo’ hu’, “there is no one”). So it would say that there is no one under the whole heaven who could challenge Leviathan and live, rather than saying it is more dangerous to challenge God to make him repay.